The Other World
by Yuri Kumiko
Summary: A prompt I've gotten from Marukaprompts on Tumblr. Makoto found a phone and had a nice chat with someone called Haru for two months. It was until Haru failed to call him then he realized something was wrong.


**The Other World**

**by Yuri Kumiko**

**Notes: My first Free! fanfiction and I got this from a prompt at Tumblr. So spare my life if you found this OoC or anything. Well, I'm usually a DCMK writer…so I'll try to not make my Makoto into Kaito and Haruka into Shinichi. *shots self***

**Prompt: Makoto finds a phone, drawn to it when it rings. On the other line, there's a person he only knows as "Haru." Makoto keeps the phone. As he and Haru talk more, he falls more in love, noticing the little dolphin keychain and mackerel screen background. He gets other calls too, but he doesn't pay them much mind because no numbers show up on the phone. At one point though, he finds out that the phone only receives calls from the dead.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was when Makoto was on this way back he heard a ringing of a phone. Glancing around, Makoto tried to track the source of the sound only to have the phone stopped ringing. Feeling confused, Makoto straightened himself and turned towards his destination and walked again.

But before he could even go a step further, the phone rang again. This time it seemed louder and clearer. It only took Makoto thirty seconds to pinpoint the source and to find a blue colored cell phone with a little dolphin keychain attached to it behind the bushes.

Taking the suddenly silent phone, Makoto switched the phone on, only to find a mackerel screen background but nothing else about the owner of the phone.

_Maybe someone might know the owner of this phone since not everyone used a mackerel as their screen background and the dolphin keychain might as well be the best hint to the owner. _Makoto thought before he tucked the phone into his pocket, hoping that he would find the owner as soon as possible.

…

The phone rings again when Makoto reached his house. Hoping that whoever on the line knows the owner's details, Makoto wasted no time answering the phone.

"Hello?" Makoto inquired cautiously, not wanting the other party to hang up on him when they heard a foreign voice.

"Hello. Who are you?" A soothing voice was heard at the other end of the phone.

It was more than a shock for Makoto when the stranger replied. Stuttering as always, Makoto answered, "Err…I'm Makoto. I-I found this phone lying in the bush. May I know who the owner is?"

"You."

The single word replied shocked Makoto and he silently wondered if he was that easy to be shocked.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Are you sure? Do you know the owner before this by any chance?"

"No."

"Bu-but…" Makoto was at a loss of words now. How could he even be an owner to the phone which he just found lying around on the floor? That just doesn't make sense.

The person at the other end of the phone somehow detected his distressed. "No one owned this phone. So when you found it, it's yours. Finders keeper. By the way, I'm Haru."

And that's how Makoto started his ownership of the mysterious phone.

…

After that fateful day, Makoto found himself chatting with Haru almost every day. They usually greet each other with a call every morning before Makoto went to class and another call to end their day. Only when Makoto felt like it, he'll call Haru after his class just for a short chat.

That was usually when he felt extremely down.

"Haru, hey."

"What is it?" It still amazes Makoto to know that Haru could feel his emotion from his voice even when he never saw his face.

"I…em…something happened."

"…" Makoto knew the silence was to urge him to go on. Allowing himself a deep breath, Makoto continued. "Rin and Rei were at a fight again. And this time, the school threatened to disband the swimming club if they got into troubles again."

"Why?"

"You know Nagisa? The cute-looking boy who was a year younger than me? He was being bullied by a few seniors and Rin caught them in the act. He fought back and Rei joined in afterwards."

"Are you okay?"

"I hope so. Sorry to dump all this on you Haru, I'm the president of the club and I can't do anything else."

"It's okay." Makoto swore he could detect a small smile from the voice. With that thought, he blushed.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Thank you!" Makoto was blushing full-blast now, not that he cared. He was alone in his room and it's not like someone would barged into his room anyway.

At days like this, he was glad that he knew Haru and somehow had gotten acquainted with the stranger.

…

Sometimes, Makoto received calls from someone other than Haru.

"…Oooi! 'Y 'ya neve' answe'r the phone? "

And again, another weird phone calls other than Haru. When Makoto received a call like this, he'll apologized and end the call as soon as the person finished their sentence. He didn't want to be rude after all.

But there were certain calls where he couldn't help but to hang up before he gets too embarrassed.

"Hiya sweety! How 'bout paying a thousand yen for a wonderful serv-" Click!

Usually, Makoto had to hear at least 60% of the call to know what they were talking about. Then he would have to spend 10 minutes to cool off and to fend off the blush on his face.

It was only until a few more strange calls that Makoto realized something: Haru's call always showed his name while all the other strange calls stayed anonymous, not even the numbers were showing.

Then he proceeded to ignore all such anonymous calls.

…

It had been two months since he started talking to Haru through the mysterious phone.

It was like any other than during that two months but Makoto found himself waiting for Haru's usual before-his-school call.

Two hours passed and Makoto was already at his third period but still received no calls from Haru. Then, lunch period came. After that, the school ended and the mysterious phone was as silent as ever.

Running back to his house, Makoto locked himself in his room after he greeted his parents. He anxiously searched back all the received call from the phone he picked up until he found the caller ID "Haru".

With his trembling hands, Makoto managed to press the call button and set the phone to his ears. After a short beep and a few rings, some one answered the phone. "Hello?"

The voice from the phone made Makoto dropped his phone. _What? Who was the female voice? _

"Hello?" The female from the other side asked again for a few more times before she hung up.

Makoto never did pick up the phone. He stared at the phone and was busy trying to collect his thoughts.

_Why didn't Haru call me?_

_Why didn't Haru answered my call?_

_Why was it a girl who answered Haru's phone?_

_Who was she to Haru?_

_Why would I even mind about details like that?_

_Are they…dating?_

_What if they are dating?_

_Why do I feel uncomfortable at that?_

_Is this…jealousy?_

_Why would I feel jealous?_

_Ahh…am I…in love with…Haru?_

Makoto was shocked at the revelation. He was in love with Haru. But since when? He knew he enjoyed the other boy's company, even though they never met. He liked how Haru laughed though that happened rarely. He liked how Haru brightened up whenever he talked about his swimming club and all his other swimming activities. He liked how Haru whined about mackerel that he couldn't have at wherever he was. He liked Haru so much that he wanted to meet that boy.

However, his musings were cut short but a familiar ring. It was Haru.

Happily snapping out of his stupor, Makoto dived for the blue phone and answered it as it rang the third time.

Due to his sudden surge of energy, he voice came out breathless and deep. "…He-Hello?"

"Hey." Oh the voice the boy produced! It was no way near the unintelligent sound Makoto usually produced and was way better than the sound of angels.

"Haru! Why didn't you call me this morning?" He tried his hardest to keep his anxiety and nervousness down, but winced a little when he heard how harsh he sounded.

"I'm busy. Sorry."

_Oh! So that's why. But that wasn't even a legit reason! Then again, he has his own life too._

"Ah-haha..it's alright. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

Taking in a breath deeply, Makoto half-shouted, "Would you go on a date with me?!"

"!"

The silence after that was unbearable, especially for Makoto. He felt tears swimming around his eyes, threatening to fall but he held it. He would not drop a tear even when Haru was not around to see it.

But luckily, Haru was the one who answered, though the answer wasn't what he wanted.

"No."

"But why?" Makoto didn't realized he had dropped down to whining now.

"It's because…"

"Yes?"

"!"

"Haru?"

"No reason."

"But…" Makoto never finished his sentence as Haru choose that time to hang up on him.

Feeling lost, Makoto stare at the phone and silently cry for his unrequited love.

…

A week passed after that eventful day and Haru had stopped calling Makoto ever since. Makoto wasn't sure to be relieved or otherwise. He's relieved since there won't be any awkward moment during their phone calls. But on the dark side, he missed the other boy so badly.

It was only until the tenth day of Haru's seemingly loss of contact, Makoto called his number back to him again. This time, he's in for a shock.

"Hello. May I speak to Haru?" Makoto made himself sound as confident as possible, but in reality, his heart pounded so hard he felt like it was trying to break open his rib cage.

"Haru? Oh, he passed on a few days earlier."

_Passed on? What does that even mean?_

"I'm sorry but I don't quite understand what you are saying."

"Are you a moron?"

"Excuse me?" Now Makoto just felt plainly insulted. How could they call him a-a-a moron!

A sigh was heard from the other end of the phone before the woman or girl or just plain devil (in Makoto's mind) continued, "Do you realize you have a phone to the dead with you? We call those things Connectors. They connect the living world to the dead. So the Haru you were chatting for two months were already dead the moment you start talking to him. And ten days ago, he passed on, having his wish fulfilled."

Makoto's brain stopped. Haru was dead. He was in love with a dead guy.

The phone dropped from his hand and a loud clank was heard. But Makoto didn't hear anything. He couldn't hear anything when the line 'Haru was already dead' kept replaying in his brain.

Falling onto his knees, Makoto cried and screamed in agony as he realized the truth.

Haru was real but he was dead. His love towards Haru was real. But now, he was crying over fake dreams and a love he could never have.

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**A/N: Well, that could have gone better. Anyway, I hope this satisfy all of you!**

**I hated working under pressure but this had to be done before I moved on to my Lucky Star and my never-ending assignments. Ciao people. Til next time! **


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